


Less than 1%

by obviouslyelementary



Series: DaForge's slow burn one shots [3]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Angst, Crying, Data is fine don't worry, Data sacrifices himself for Geordi, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Gentleness, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pinning Geordi, Sacrifice, Tears, data's pov, pinning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24859216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obviouslyelementary/pseuds/obviouslyelementary
Summary: They had little time.The bomb was counting down the seconds for the explosion, while they waited, anxiously, hoping that either Geordi would be able to disable the bomb, or O'Brien would finally get their signal and beam them out of the facility.
Relationships: Crew of the Starship Enterprise & Data, Data & Geordi La Forge, Data/Geordi La Forge
Series: DaForge's slow burn one shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1794238
Comments: 8
Kudos: 88





	Less than 1%

**Author's Note:**

> I like this one. very emotionally charged.

They had little time.

The bomb was counting down the seconds for the explosion, while they waited, anxiously, hoping that either Geordi would be able to disable the bomb, or O'Brien would finally get their signal and beam them out of the facility.

The last thing they expected was a scenario such as this one, a bomb armed to count down for explosion the moment someone stepped inside the abandoned facility. The Romulans sure weren't kidding when they decided to destroy every single piece of possible intelligence before the federation could have access to it.

By the time the bomb reached the five second mark, Riker ordered Geordi to get back and hide, to no avail. The engineer did not listen, determined to find a way of stopping the explosion and save his friends. Worf and Riker were already curled up behind a structure that hopefully would protect them, but Data seemed to be stuck.

Stuck in place as the seconds counted down, in slow motion.

Geordi had less than one percent chance of surviving the blast, in case he was face to face with the bomb as he was now. Data had around ten percent chance of not suffering irreparable damage in case he was at the same position. Geordi would not have enough time to reach a safe spot with the seconds that lasted before the explosion, but Data would if he left at that instance. Data could be rebuilt considering that the Federation found Lore or doctor Soong's writings on how he was constructed, Geordi could not. The logical choice, considering the odds, would be to save himself and simply hope that the less than one percent chance would be enough to have Geordi alive after the explosion.

Data did not choose to follow his logic.

With three seconds lasting, he ran to the engineer and pushed him away against his will. He picked Geordi up easily, fighting the engineer's protests, and when one second hit the mark, he kneeled down and covered Geordi the best he could with his body, digging his fingers into the concrete to keep himself from flying away from his friend once the blast hit.

The bomb exploded, sending a heat wave, fire and pieces of glass and metal all over the place, destroying all the computers at the station so they wouldn't have access to it. Luckily the bomb was not supposed to explode the whole facility, so it was localized, but Data was still close enough to the blast to feel his skin melting and his insides burning, several warnings of malfunctions and systems overheating popping up in his brain.

There was literally nothing he could do, at the moment.

Once the explosion was over and the heat subdued, Data heard Riker and Worf coughing and running towards him. Looking down, he saw Geordi staring up at him, breathing shakily, curled up beneath his body. Data could only hear the loud warning signs inside his head before his body collapsed, his circuits melted and shutting off due to the high heat.

He blacked out completely then, allowing his body to self-regulate the best it could, although it would need some fixing up from outside forces.

When Data finally was turned on again, he was at sickbay, somewhere he was not quite used in being. Most of his fixing ups were usually done in engineering, or in his quarters, so he could only deduce that this one had been a difficult one, and Geordi had required Dr. Crusher's steady hands to fix most of his circuitry. Data blinked, slowly, and trying to sit up, noticing he was unable to. After a quite check he understood that while his mental functions were all back in order, his body and head had not yet been reconnected, probably due some more repairs they would have to make to his dorsal panel.

Unlike humans, however, Data was patient, so he tested his vocal systems to see if they were in order by humming and whispering a phrase (they seemed to be adequately functioning), and then waited until someone came to check on him, staring up at the ceiling, not wishing to disturb anyone in case sickbay had another patient.

It took precisely one hour, ten minutes and twenty three seconds for someone to come check on him, and unlike he previously thought would happen, Dr. Crusher did not come alone.

"We did everything in our power captain, but he is still unconscious. We can only wait now, since we need his help to rebuild his lower body" he heard Beverly saying, and he could hear six pairs of feet walking towards his bed.

"Do you think he will be alright?" Commander Riker asked, and Beverly sighed.

"I hope so. Without a base for comparison or doctor Soong I don't know what else we can do" she answered, and Data blinked slowly.

"Luckily you can use my own knowledge now, doctor" he said, and heard gasps coming from all directions. Soon, he was surrounded by his friends, the captain, doctor and counselor on one side, Geordi, Worf and Riker on the other, the six of them looking down at him.

"How long have you been awake?" doctor Crusher asked, grabbing her medical equipment, and he looked up at the ceiling.

"One hour, twelve minutes and fifty five seconds" he said, and heard the captain chuckle.

"Are you feeling well, mister Data?" he asked, and Data blinked as he could not nod yet.

"My brain is functioning adequately, and apparently my vocal, hearing and face operating systems are all in order. However I am unable to move from my neck down" he said, and Geordi nodded.

"Yeah we tried to connect but we were afraid of doing something wrong. We need your help buddy" Geordi said, and Data blinked again.

"Now that I am conscious, I can assist in checking my systems and reconnecting. Although I would suggest the creation of at least two teams, or a long break in between procedures, because my insides are extremely complex and it will take several hours to put me back together."

"You heard the man. Two teams or breaks" Riker said, smiling at Geordi and Beverly, who did not seem very keen on that idea by the looks in their faces.

"Welcome home Data" Deanna said, caressing his cheek, and he gave her a small smile to symbolize that he felt better, at least that was what his human records told him to do.

"Thank you counselor."

Even with Data's help, it took the teams three days to put him back together. Like requested, Geordi and Beverly took long breaks in between the surgeries, but decided against making teams, only trusting themselves to work on Data. He was internally thankful, since they were the two people he trusted the most for the job. But finally, after three days, he could walk and function properly again, with no lasting symptoms or anything that had happened.

"Thank you Beverly, Geordi. I should now go and report to the captain" he said, sitting up, but Beverly placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. She gave Geordi a stare that seemed to represent something Data could not quite understand, and then looked back at him.

"I think you should go with Geordi back to your quarters and talk. Just for a little while. I will tell the captain" she said, and left the sickbay towards her office. When Data looked at Geordi, he was avoiding his gaze, which confused the android even further.

"Geordi, would you like me to go to my quarters so we could talk?"

"Um... yeah" Geordi whispered, still quite distracted, walking out of the sickbay without any other words. Data followed him, making his way towards the turbolift, and Geordi said nothing, remaining in silence all the way to Data's quarters.

Once inside, Geordi walked to the replicator, asking for some cat food and placing it on the ground, all while Spot came to Data and rubbed against his leg. He picked her up, petting her head, watching as she purred and leaned against him.

He let her go when she desired, and looked at Geordi, who seemed to be avoiding his glance in every way possible.

"Geordi, is there something wrong?" Data asked, confused and slightly... well bothered by his friend's demeanor. He was never this quite, or this protective. But Geordi just sighed, instead of answering his question, and finally turned his head to face the android.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, his voice supporting a slight tremble that also wasn't usual of him. Data tilted his head, confused once more.

"Spot wanted to be held."

"No Data! Why did you push me away?! Why did you put yourself over me?! Why did you put yourself in danger to save me?!" Geordi cried out, sounding frustrated, angry and upset, each other making his voice tremble more, as if he was about to cry.

The questions, however, seemed extremely pointless in Data's point of view.

"You had less than one percent chance of surviving that explosion at your location. I calculated the odds and decided it was worth the risk" he said, and Geordi stared at him, his bottom lip trembling before he bit it down.

"Data you were unconscious for twenty fucking days. We took a week just to find out how to even start to repair you. And even after we did, we still had to wait until you woke up to finish everything up. You are one of a kind and the only comparison we have to you is lost in space somewhere! And your creator is dead! Data do you know how important you are, for society, for the federation?! You can't risk yourself like this!"

Data blinked slowly, tilting his head, staring at Geordi as he looked back at him, so many emotions in his small face.

"Geordi... you are also a unique individual, with your own intricacies and special abilities that would never be imitated by any other human being. I only did what any friend would have done. You were the one that should not have risked yourself to that degree."

Geordi's lips pressed together and his shoulders shook slightly, before he removed his visor. Only then Data saw the tears in his eyes, the one he wiped vigorously before placing his visor back on.

"I hate you. So much" Geordi said, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around Data tightly, in a hug that was unusual even for the engineer. Data responded in kind, as he usually did, wrapping his arms around his friend and pulling him closer, furrowing his eyebrows as he felt his shoulders tremble and jump again.

"Geordi... are you still crying?" he asked, and the man nodded against his chest, pulling him closer. "Perhaps you should remove your visor then... and we should sit down."

With another nod from his friend, Data gently unwrapped himself from him and removed his visor, placing it on the desk and leading Geordi to the couch. Once they were sitting down, he pulled his friend for a tight hug, and allowed Geordi to spill out whatever he was feeling by crying against his chest, remembering how Troi had once told him that crying was a human response to heavy emotions, and that releasing those emotions tended to make humans feel better about whatever was affecting them.

Data allowed Geordi to cry until he stopped by himself, before the engineer pulled away, rubbing his eyes and then holding Data's face on his hands, his white eyes shifting a little as he clearly tried to focus on Data's own eyes.

"Never do that again" he said, his voice still trembling a bit, before he sighed and laid his head on Data's chest again. "Please... don't do that again..."

"I cannot promise that. But I will try to be more careful" he said, and despite the sigh, Geordi seemed to relax a bit against his hold.

Data remained still, keeping his friend close until he was calm and steady enough to go back to his duties.

And something stirred inside him, something Data couldn’t quite understand or put a name to. But he felt it, deep within his core, something warm and gentle growing in his chest.

And he knew, somehow, that he would always protect Geordi, even if that meant losing his own life in the process.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated, can't wait until these two finally kiss (even though this is my series but whatever lmao)


End file.
